Infrastructure

DALLAS — Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings downgraded the Utah Transit Authority’s debt as it prepares to issue $200 million of Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has told the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority that $3.5 million of development revenue bonds it issued in 2005 to finance a manufacturing facility could be ­taxable.

After heated debate, New Jersey lawmakers Monday approved a $1.4 billion Transportation Trust Fund Authority debt restructuring deal that also includes new-money bonds.

The House last week approved a bill that would allow state transportation departments and other tolling entities to offer discounted tolls to residents and nearby commuters, as individuals challenge the discounts in at least three lawsuits against tolling agencies.

A $1.4 billion New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority deal is caught in a political stalemate as the state’s Department of Transportation announced Friday it would halt all state-funded transportation projects until the Legislature approves the bond sale.

Congress and the Obama administration would be wasting an opportunity to revive infrastructure if they set up a national infrastructure bank and its investment-selection process the same way that existing programs are structured, an economic analyst said here Friday morning.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie picked former state Attorney General David Samson to replace Anthony Coscia on Thursday as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing a proposal for a multi-year transportation bill that will talk about the importance of developing “institutional capacity” to support a national high-speed rail network, a federal rail official revealed Wednesday night at a conference here.

CHICAGO — Branson Airport LLC in Missouri has proposed borrowing up to $17 million of unrated tax-exempt revenue bonds to cover final construction costs and bolster reserve funds tapped to help cover interest payments on $113 million of debt issued in 2007 to finance the privately built and operated airport.

WASHINGTON — Congress should create two types of direct-pay transportation bonds to help states and localities build and repair crumbling infrastructure, market participants told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during a hearing Tuesday.